


The Suicides

by bennykill709



Series: The Suicides [2]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Addiction, Augmented Reality, Bleak, Cyberpunk, Dark, Depression, Detective Noir, Gen, Horror, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Mystery, Near Future, Pornography, References to Addiction, Thriller, Videogame Addiction, Videogrammetry, Violent, Virtual Reality
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-17
Updated: 2021-02-03
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:01:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23705803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bennykill709/pseuds/bennykill709
Summary: Detective Theodore Mitchell investigates a sharp spike in apparent suicides among people with cybernetic implants, while he and his wife struggle to deal with the death of their young daughter. The investigation brings him face-to-face with the grim unforeseen consequences of merging man and machine.
Series: The Suicides [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2006707
Comments: 1





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Theo sat in his car, patiently waiting for the ride to be over. He nervously flipped a weighted metal pen between his fingers and watched the cities nightlife pass him by, trying to ignore the ticking clock at the edge of his vision anywhere he looked. Theo had finally received the implant after months of complaining and excuses. His friends and colleagues often told him about the seemingly infinite benefits of the technology, how it could help him at his job, how he would be left behind if he didn't adapt. But Theo never took offense to being called a Luddite. In fact, he often felt prideful of the term.

But that was before his wife had the surgery. Theo thought it would help her to handle their daughter’s death, but she seemed to grow even more distant and depressed afterwards. However, Theo was still reluctant to embrace the technology. After staring blankly out the window for several minutes, he shook his head with a sigh. He looked down at the pen and pressed a button on it, opening a floating menu beside it. He navigated to his contacts and selected Kara Mitchell, favorited at the top of the list. After a short tone, he heard her voice, as clearly as if she was sitting next to him. Clearer even.

"Hello?" She said.

"Good evening sweetheart." Theo said. He waited for a reply, but there was only silence, so he continued. "I'm headed to a scene and thought I would give this thing a spin and call you."

"Mhmm." Her voice was somber, and she seemed disinterested. Theo waited a few moments more, but all he heard was her quiet breath.

"How are you feeling today?" Theo carried a hint of worry in his voice.

"I'm... okay." Even though he couldn't see her, Theo knew the smile on her face. A distant smile, but warm enough for him to know that she still loved him.

"Okay. Well, I'll be home before you know it, but for now, I've got to go." Theo took a deep breath before continuing. "I love you, Kara."

"I love you too, Teddy."

"Goodbye." Theo said before ending the call. He sighed in relief.

The vehicle finally came to a stop behind a number of police cruisers parked with their lights flashing in front of a clean, modern style apartment building. "You have arrived at your destination." Said a female voice from the speakers on the ceiling, immediately followed by the mechanical click of the doors unlocking. Before stepping out of the car, Theo inhaled and exhaled methodically and firmly ran his fingers through his dark, thinning hair. He then opened the door and stepped outside, grabbing the large leather case from the seat next to him in the process.

"Begin Record." He said, holding another button on his pen. A large Red circle appeared in the center of his vision and receded, fading into a corner until barely visible. "Theodore Mitchell, Detective." As he began walking, his car came back to life, turning out of the blocked street to find a place to park. He dictated the current date and time to the record as he walked past several police officers, giving him only a single glance. He walked into the building and directly to the elevator. After another brief moment of silence, Theo arrived at the intended floor. The door opened to a hallway crowded with officers talking to the residents on the floor.

Theo walked down the hallway and to an open door, guarded by a pair of officers and blocked by police tape. Theo ducked under the tape and into the apartment.

The girl was on the floor, a small revolver in her hand, and a blown-out hole in the base of her skull. The revolver was a .38 Special, covered in blood, six rounds in the cylinder and only one fired. Not an unusual sight. After all, Theo had seen more than he could count. After placing his leather case at the entrance, he walked around her to take a look at her twisted face, and as soon as he did, the woman's online profile popped up with a tasteful picture and her name, but the rest was private. Theo sent a request to access the full profile, and after entering his identification, the site recognized him as an officer of Public Security and let him through.

Christina Auburg

Age 19

Boston University Student and Book Store Cashier

Bisexual

In a Relationship

As well as her personal online profile, Theo also had immediate access to her criminal records, financial records, and contact history, including full recordings of her digital conversations going all the way back to her first cell phone. A few speeding tickets, a minor drug possession charge, and thousands of dollars’ worth of student loan and medical debt. Even her friends, boyfriend, and acquaintances were not out of the ordinary for the average college student.

"Detective Mitchell." A man in uniform greeted Theo with a dour tone. Theo turned to look at him, and the man’s profile opened in a floating window next to his face.

"Officer Daniels. You were the first on scene?" Theo asked, and the officer responded with a quick nod. "So? What's with the circus?"

"This is number 15 in the last week." Daniels said. "That's more than four times the average rate for this time of year. Chief Richardson is convinced that there is something connecting these apparent suicides and ordered that we treat any further instances as murders."

"Who called it in?"

"There were 3 calls, all from neighboring apartments, who all claimed they heard screaming before a single gunshot. I was called in to investigate, knocked on the door several times with no response, and had the building manager open the door. I immediately saw the body, checked the rest of the apartment, and called for Paramedics and CSI."

“What about the piece?”

“Purchased a few years ago by the victim’s boyfriend, he has a solid alibi, had no communication with the victim for several days before the incident. He’s been sent a request for questioning.”

"Alright. Put some of these idle officers to work getting statements from everyone on the floor, the neighbors directly above and below, and the building manager." Theo said, slipping his hands into a pair of latex gloves. He then looked intently at officer Daniels and pointed to his right temple.

"Alright. Put some of these idle officers to work getting statements from everyone on the floor, the neighbors directly above and below, and the building manager." Theo said, slipping his hands into a pair of latex gloves. He then looked intently at officer Daniels and pointed to his right temple.

"Begin Record." Daniels whispered as he looked away, and a flashing red dot appeared hovering on the right side of his HMD before he left into the hallway. Theo began walking around the small apartment. It was quite messy and disorganized, but nothing appeared to be broken or out of place. He wandered the living room before moving to the small kitchen and making his way to the bathroom where he instinctively looked at himself in the mirror.

Theodore Mitchell

Age 38

Detective, BPD Forensic Technology Division.

Heterosexual

Married

Theo scoffed and shook his head as he saw his profile pop up. It was annoying, but he hadn't quite found the setting to disable it. Instead, he simply opened the mirrored cabinet. Toothbrush, Toothpaste, Floss, Mouth Wash, Cosmetics, and in one corner on the top shelf was her medication. Several bottles were over the counter pain relievers and vitamin supplements, but one of the bottles caught his attention. Prescribed Anti-Biotics, the same ones that were given to Theo directly following his augmentations. There were still a handful of pills left in the rattling bottle, signifying that her operation was quite recent.

Theo pulled his pen from his pocket and opened the menu beside it. He flicked the Recent Profiles tab and selected Christina’s, then requested her medical records. It was near instantaneous before he had access to all her information dating back to the calculated moment of conception. The first record at the top was the most recent, and exactly what Theo was looking for; Christina’s cybernetic implant procedures including a Cerebral Interface and 2 Display Mesh inserts.

He walked back to the living room and knelt down next to the victim. He pushed her head back and focused on one of her bloodshot eyes. As he focused, he felt the subtle vibration of the telescoping lenses in his own mechanical eyes, allowing his vision to zoom, and making him wish he could scratch the back of his eye socket. A small ring circling the outside of Christina’s cornea had fine lettering that read 'Bell-Westbrook Cybernetics Model 2400R'. It was rare for the average person to only purchase one, but Theo made sure to check her other eye anyway, confirming they were the same model. He let her head fall forward again, and investigated the base of her skull, where the implant hub is generally attached, though the open wound had made it unrecognizable with the exception of a few fine wires showing that it was there at one point.

"Dammit." Theo said under his breath. Without the hub, it would be impossible to see the visual records of the last few hours of her life. The Crime Scene Photographer who had been sitting outside entered the apartment and walked up to Theo. His profile appeared, though Theo didn't need it, as they had already known each other for years.

"Detective." Jacque said as he gripped Theo's hand. "I'm in the process of recording the scene for photogrammetry and reprojection." He swiped at an invisible display in front of him, and Theo received a message. "There's the link. I suggest you use the BPD soundstage if you need it."

"You'll have to show me how to do that. I'm still not used to this thing." Theo said, tapping the back of his neck. Jacque laughed.

"Sure thing." They walked around the apartment; Jacque actively recording the scene, and Theo searching for any other points of interest. After a few moments of silence, Jacque speaks with a concerned tone. "How's K doing?" Theo let out a heavy sigh but tried to smile.

"She's alright. She's been getting a lot of achievements in this new game she's playing and met a lot of new people on the forums." Theo continued searching for evidence, but it was clear that his mind was no longer on his work.

"Maybe she needs to get out more often." Jacque said. Theo couldn't agree more but knew that wasn’t the root of the problem. "I haven’t seen her since...” He thought about it, but when he came up with the answer, he decided not to say the words out of respect. “It’s been... almost 2 years now. In fact, you guys have been married for 6 years, and Chris still hasn’t met her! How about we all go out on Friday? It could be like a couples thing."

"Maybe." Theo let out a half-hearted laugh. "If I can manage to drag her away from that damned game." The two worked in silence for a moment.

"Do you think she might be addicted?" Jacque was trying to approach the subject gently. Theo didn't respond. "It's becoming a news-worthy issue, and I can't exactly blame her either-"

"Thanks..." Theo said bluntly. "But I think she'll be fine."

"It's not just her that I'm worried about." Jacques response garnered a sour look from Theo. He continued as he was leaving. "Take care of yourself, Theo." The door latched behind him, and now Theo was alone in this dark kitchen. He leaned against the granite counter, and gently punched his fists in frustration. He mindlessly began looking through the fridge and freezer. In the back corner, half-hidden behind a bag of ice, Theo saw a bottle of Whiskey. He instinctively picked it up, twisted off the lid, and took a whiff, but stopped himself just before touching his lips to the rim. In the corner of his vision, he could still see the nearly headless underage corpse sitting in the living room.

"Fuck." Theo said, spinning the lid back on. He walked over to his case at the entrance and pulled out an evidence bag and placed the bottle inside, sealed it, and tucked it away in the case. He went through the same process with several other items in the apartment. The Revolver and the Ammunition went into separate bags, the medication from the bathroom mirror, and other small personal items like her wallet, keys, and mobile displays. He used swabs to collect blood from several spots on the floor, walls and ceiling. He searched and collected other bodily fluids, from the bathroom and her bedroom. After a few hours of investigating the scene and collecting evidence, Theo had conflicting ideas about what had happened.

It was obvious that she had killed herself. There was no break in, nothing to imply that anyone other than the victim had been there recently, but there was also nothing in the apartment that showed she was in any way depressed or suicidal. Still, it wasn't completely unheard of. Theo doubled over the apartment before leaving and giving the OK to the coroner, he then walked into the hallway to meet with Officer Daniels again, who was standing outside the apartment.

“Detective.” He said with a respectful nod.

“How are we with the statements?”

“Six statements have been recorded as of yet, sir.”

“Anyone know her personally?”

“Yes.” Officer Daniels said as he waived his hand toward a woman standing in the hallway several meters away. She was middle aged, dressed in a robe over a nightgown and slippers, and was watching the commotion from just outside her doorway. She looked tired and worried. Her profile came up just as Daniels continued. “Emmaline Beckhart, Divorced. She’s the victims neighbor and often socialized with her.”

“Thank you, Officer.” Theo said with a nod and approached the woman. She stood as straight as she could when she saw Theo coming toward her. “Ms. Beckhart?” He said, and she nodded. “Detective Theodore Mitchell.” He greeted her with a handshake.

“Chrissy... Is she...? Is she dead?” Emmaline asked though already knowing the answer, just waiting for confirmation. Theo, not breaking from the handshake, placed his other hand over hers and gripped it gently. He looked into her eyes.

“I’m afraid so.” Theo replied. Emmaline exhaled and looked away, tears flooding her eyes.

“Fuckin’ bitch.” She said softly, her voice breaking. Theo had to suppress the urge to chuckle in front of her. He had done hundreds of these conversations in his career, ironic hostility was a common response when speaking with victims’ close friends. It was endearing to Theo.

“Do you mind if I step inside and ask you a few questions?” He asked. Emmaline sniffled as she moved inside and held the door open, waiving him in.

“Sure. Please, have a seat.” She gestured toward a couple of chairs that faced a large entertainment center. “Would you like a glass of water?” Emmaline asked. It was the only thing she offered, but it was clear from the several glass bottles strewn about, she likely had something else that he would have preferred were he not on the job.

“No, thank you ma’am.” Theo entered the apartment and Emmaline shut the door behind him, then made her way to the kitchen to make herself a drink. Theo jumped right into the questions as he navigated the space to the seat he chose. “I understand you and Christine spent some time together.”

“Mhmm.” Emmaline said from the kitchen. “I had her over a few times a week. We’d have a drink and play some classic shooters for a few hours.”

“Drink?” Theo asked. Emmaline tripped over her next words.

“I mean... uh... I’m talking about my homemade organic lemonade.” She said, avoiding Theo’s gaze. He chuckled.

“That actually does sound pretty good right now.” Theo looked at her, cartoonishly exaggerating his suspicious glare. Emmaline smiled and laughed to herself. Without words, Theo had lightened the mood and gotten across the idea that he wasn’t here to lecture about underaged drinking.

“I’m fresh out.” Emmaline replied in a playfully sarcastic tone. They shared a moment of mild laughter, then Theo cleared his throat.

“Did you give her the bottle in the back of the freezer?” He asked.

“No, but she told me about it.” She said. Theo instinctively went for his front shirt pocket where he used to keep a small notepad, but now found it empty. He had forgotten that his implant would now record and transcribe everything that he was seeing and hearing. He scoffed at himself as he pulled out his pen, then focused back on Emmaline. “She stole the bottle from a store when she was 13, I think. Her Dad found it, but instead of punishing her, he let her keep it, as long as she promised not to open it until her 21st birthday, when they would share it together.”

“Were you aware that it was already opened?”

“Yeah. Cancer took him last year. She said she shared a glass with him in his last days but hasn’t touched it since.” Emmaline took a sip of her drink and wiped away her collecting tears.

“You seem like you were pretty close for her to tell you something like that. I’ve lived in my apartment for 2 years, see my neighbor every day, hasn’t ever said more than 10 words to me.”

“We used to be like that too. Worse in fact.” Emmaline said. “I used to think she was a deep-fried cunt.” She looked at Theo, then cleared her throat. “Excuse me, I apologize for the language.”

“It’s fine.” Theo said with a laugh. “When would you say you became friends?”

“Hmm...” Emmaline looked at the ceiling and curled her chin. “Probably about a year ago, right after her father died, in fact. She and her boyfriend were on the rocks, and her father’s state wasn’t helping anything. She came home one night with an attitude and caught me in the hallway giving her the stink-eye. She came at me with language that would’ve made George Carlin blush. After she was out of steam, I offered her a drink, and that was that.”

“Could you tell me more about her boyfriend?” Before he finished speaking, Theo already had Christina’s boyfriends profile pulled up. His name was Michael Tenning, another student at Boston University.

“Oh, him? That piece of ass makes me wish I had gotten divorced 20 years ago.” Emmaline laughed, as did Theo reflexively.

“You said they were having some issues. Being her neighbor, did you ever see or hear anything to make you suspect abuse of any kind?”

“No.” She said. “The screams coming from that apartment were never screams of pain or fear.” Emmaline shook her head and chuckled. “Blue balling assholes is what they are.”

“What do you make of him?” Theo asked.

“He’s a very sweet boy. Whenever they were together, he would follow her around like a lost puppy.” Emmaline grabbed her glass, “Bit of a Beta if you ask me.” She muttered right before she took a sip. “It doesn’t seem to me like he’s got a mean bone in his body. Well... maybe ONE mean bone.” She said, as she winked at Theo.

“Have you seen... or, uh... ‘heard’ him around recently?”

“Last week some time. He came by and stayed the night.”

“What about her? When was the last time you saw or heard anything from Christina?”

“Well, I saw her leaving just this morning, and last night too. Didn’t talk to her at all since last week though.”

“Did she seem like she was depressed when you last saw her, or any time, really?” Theo asked. Emmaline scoffed in disbelief.

“You think it was suicide?” She laughed. “Nonsense. She was happy and ambitious. I mean, she was looking forward to her implants for months. She was barely able to use them so far, and she wouldn’t shut up about how awesome that cyber shit is last week when I talked to her.”

“I’ve worked a lot of suicides in my career. Often, when someone decides they are going to take their life, they can seem happy or euphoric as opposed to sad and gloomy. Did anything seem different about her the last times you saw her? Anything at all?”

“Well... Now that you mention it...” Emmaline said. Theo wanted to roll his eyes every time he heard that phrase. “Last night I was in the hall when she left, she looked at me and smiled, and I flipped her the bird, and she seemed to be visibly offended.”

“That does seem strange.” Theo said, laying on the sarcasm.

“C’mon, man.” She responded. “It’s a personalized greeting between us that we’ve used for months. She shouldn’t have been offended. When I saw her this morning, she avoided even looking at me.”

“Fair enough.” Theo said. “Have you seen any strangers in the area?”

“Afraid not. At least, none that I can recall.”

“Alright.” Theo stood up from his chair and started fiddling with his pen, its’ hovering display invisible to Emmaline. “Contact me if you think of anything.” The mobile display on the side table between them vibrated, alerting to the message Theo just sent to her. Theo began moving back to the hallway.

“So...” Emmaline said, causing Theo to stop moving toward the door, “You do think this is a murder, right?”

“We’re exploring all avenues of investigation at this time.” Theo’s boilerplate response was nearly autonomic. He turned back to Emmaline, waiting for her phatic permission to leave.

“Okay, but... Do you think...” She paused as she looked into Theo’s eyes, but Theo could tell that it wasn’t out of respect or romantic interest. “Do you think this could have anything to do with her cybernetics?” Her question gave Theo pause. He spent a moment on the thought, then continued on his way out.

“Thank you for your time, Ms. Beckhart.” He said. Emmaline scoffed and shook her head, then turned on her gaming console and took to her drink as Theo left.

In the hallway, Theo found a spot outside the flow of traffic in and out of the crime scene and started sifting through the transcripts of the other interviews. While a couple of officers hadn’t been recording video like they were supposed to, all of them did seem to follow proper guidelines when talking to witnesses at the crime scene. Once he felt confident that he wouldn’t have to come back, Theo called for his car on his way down the stairs and left the building. It arrived just as he came to the curb. He poured himself into the back seat, and as soon as he shut the door, a synthetic voice spoke to him.

"State your destination."

"Take me home." He said with a sigh.

His apartment was small. One bedroom, one bathroom, a kitchen, a living area and a small patio. There were few decorations and a faint outline on the wall where a physical TV had recently been removed. Theo placed his coat on an unoccupied hook next to the door and stepped into the kitchen. When he looked at the fridge, a hovering window appeared displaying the contents within. There were a few boxes of leftovers from office lunches and 14 bottles of meal replacement, the same amount as when he left this morning. Theo sighed heavily, opened the fridge and pulled out 2 bottles. He then went to the bedroom, where he found his wife, laying in bed on top of the sheets, staring at the ceiling.

She was wearing his favorite of her nightshirt and panty combo, but it was what she was wearing when they woke up. She was still the most beautiful person in the world to him, but her weight and muscle mass were beginning to drop to unhealthy levels. Theo focused on her neck for a couple of seconds when a readout of her vitals appeared. Her pulse, blood pressure, and breathing were all normal.

Theo sat beside her on the bed and went to weave his fingers in with hers, but when he touched her skin, she jumped, then looked at Theo and sighed.

“Oh... Hi. I wasn’t expecting you so soon.” Kara said.

“It’s past 11, babe.” Theo continued to weave their hands together. He pulled her hand up and gave it a kiss. “You haven’t eaten today.” He said, as he took her hand and placed one of the bottles into her palm.

“I will in a sec, I’m in the middle of something.”

“Let the Puppeteer take over for a minute.” Theo pressed the bottle into her hand when she tried to pull it away, becoming insistent. Kara stared at him for a moment, but the flickering lights in her eyes made it clear that she was in Wonderland.

“Fine.” She said, pulling the bottle away from him. She broke the seal on the lid and downed its entire contents. She placed the lid back on, then handed it back to Theo. Without another word, she went back to her game, leaving Theo in silence. He sighed, then stood up and went to leave the room. When he was in the doorway, Kara turned back to him.

“I really wish you would play with me.” She said. Theo looked back at her with a smile.

“Then, who would feed us?” Theo wasn’t expecting a response and he didn’t get one. After throwing away the empty bottle, he fell into the couch in the living room facing the empty wall where the TV had been. Now it was replaced by a digital projection produced within his mechanical eyes. He opened the other Meal Replacement bottle and sipped on it, imagining it was a beer, as he started watching some classic television.


	2. Chapter 2

"Michael Tenning." Theo said, sitting across an empty table from the named man. He was twenty-four, slender, with light brown hair haphazardly swept back, and mechanical green eyes that nervously looked away from Theo's gaze. The Diner's ceiling lights appeared to flicker as they reflected off the glossy white finish of Michael's trembling left arm.

"That's right." Michael muttered under his breath.

"How long have you known Christina?"

"Almost my entire life, honestly. We've been in school together since, like, elementary school. I actually became friends with her senior year of high school, and we started dating during Spring Break."

"Did you two ever fight?"

"Well, sure, but it was all over stupid little sh- uh... stuff. You know, like what we're going to stream, what we're going to eat..." Michael said. His eyes wandered the ceiling, trying to remember more details. "There was one time we got a bit heated, but it never got to the point when we would want to hurt each other."

"What was that big fight about?"

"Uhh..." Michael's face was turning red, and he seemed to be cowering in his seat, obviously uncomfortable. "We were... uhh... having... 'relations', you know? And, I-uh, I decided to try something... different." Michael takes a large drink of the water in front of him. "Well, she didn't really care for it. Kind of killed the mood for the next few days, but we settled things like adults, and have been okay ever since."

"I see." Said Theo before sipping his coffee. "Did she have any enemies?" Michael reflexively scoffed at the question.

"Are you kidding?" He said. Theo wasn't laughing, wiping the incredulous smile from Michaels mouth. "No, she didn't. She was a pretty quiet person and hated confrontation."

"Stalkers, recent strangers hanging around, anything like that?"

"No, at least, not that I noticed. She never spoke of any if there were."

"Was there anything that was different about her recently?" Theo said.

"I mean... not really. I haven't talked to her a lot this week." Michael paused for a moment in thought. "She was pretty excited about her operation... Oh! She did complain about her Augs having some sort of glitch. She did seem a bit shaken by them. Can't blame her. They're pretty freaky when they happen."

Theo had heard about them. As any piece of technology, Visual and Audio Augmentations are prone to glitches that can hinder or completely cut off the user’s vision, or audio pops loud enough to cause a person to go deaf permanently, but as it doesn't physically affect the ear drum, no such luck. Exploding head syndrome, but for the Cybernetic Age.

"Did she ever describe these glitches?" Theo asked.

"Not in any sort of detail. When she seemed distant lately, I would ask her what's happening, and she wouldn't say much. It was like she was afraid to say, or maybe embarrassed?"

"Why would she be embarrassed?" Theo took another sip of his coffee. Michael shied away from the question again, but his eyes met with Theo's dead serious gaze.

"One of the first times I asked what she was seeing, she said... 'Monsters'. And I reflexively laughed at her. She never told me anything after that. Nor can I blame her. That was Sunday, last week, right before I left for Chicago."

"You guys didn't keep in touch much while you were away?"

"Nah, I thought she wanted some space after I said that thing about her glitches." Michael began staring at his drink, his face was somber. "I mean, it wasn't that bad, you don't think she did it... because of me? Because of what I said?" Michaels mechanical hand started shaking again. The two sat in silence for a moment. Theo was feeling confident that Michael had little to do with why she did it, but he still had to understand how. He felt uncomfortable broaching the last subject.

“She was in the possession of a snub-nose revolver. Do you know anything about that?” Theo asked. Michael was shocked at the question. “... Is that... is that how she...” Michael was trembling again. His head fell into his hands, and he started nervously pulling at his hair. “I should have never given her that fucking thing.” He said. A couple of tears fell onto the table. Theo didn’t need anything else.

"Thank you for your time today, Mr. Tenning. I think I have what I need." Theo said as he stood up and offered his hand to Michael, who didn’t notice. Theo pulled his hand away. "I'll make sure to keep you updated." He began walking toward the door. "Don't turn off your GPS."

Theo’s vehicle arrived just as he left the building. He stepped inside and heard the familiar voice.

“What is your destination?”

“Boston University, idle.” He said. There was a chime as the vehicle selected a route circling the destination on roads with the least impact on traffic. Theo had already run out of people of interest relating to the case, so he needed to do a bit of research, starting with Christina’s Social Media.

She had few friends and acquaintances to the delight of Theo, as he would not have to spend a lot of time in that regard. But to his dismay, she also had no blocked contacts, which would have been an obvious lead. With his police access, he was able to have all contacts with a criminal record or a registered weapon highlighted. Furthermore, he could filter by violent crimes and .38 Snub Nose Revolvers, but there were no hits in either category.

“Fuck.” He said as he leaned back in his seat. Next, he moved to her timeline. There were over a hundred new messages, both public and private, in the last 12 hours. All were from family and friends in response to her death. Theo skimmed through them but did not catch anything strange. Then he reached a marker in her timeline reading ‘Estimated Time of Death’. The time in most cases was accurate down to the millisecond. Before her time of death, there were several inane posts and messages from her friends, but Theo noticed that Christina did not post or reply to anything for over a week, since just after Michael left for Chicago.

The last post from Christina read, ‘Anyone else with Vis implants having peoples faces looking weird? It’s creeping me the fuck out!!!’ There were some spooked reactions to the post and a few comments mentioning facial recognition and avatar bugs that sound similar, but all other posts going back to her implant surgery a month ago and further appeared as normal.

Still nothing to go on. Theo switched over to tracking her location. According to the data he was seeing, she had not left her apartment at all in the past week, contradicting the statements of Emmaline Beckhart and others in her building. Theo pulled up the security feed from the entrance to the apartment building and fed in his Police credentials, allowing him to access video for any time in the past six months. He looked at every person who entered or left the building before Christina’s time of death.

Most of the residents were identified by their public profiles and the rest were captured by facial recognition through the Boston Police API. After scrubbing through a few hours of footage, Theo was able to confirm that Christina had left the building, but none of her devices or augs were transmitting. It was of little issue, as Theo could track her predicted route based on her presence in other CCTV footage wherever she went. Theo requested the process and watched as a map of the city appeared and a line began growing from Christina’s apartment into the city.

Millions of devices throughout the city donated a small fraction of their processing power to run the facial recognition process on all video recordings in her predicted path. Within seconds, Theo had a full itinerary of Christina’s movements in the week before her death. For the first couple of days after she was last with Michael Tenning, her augs were publicly transmitting and showing that she spent most of her time on the Boston University Campus, only deviating to go to a restaurant, but for the last 5 days, her augs went private, and she only left her apartment once per day to stop at a building in the South Boston Industrial Zone. Theo set the address as his destination and was on his way immediately.

The building was inconspicuously placed along a stretch of road with seldom used garages and locked storage spaces. The entrance to the building was a short way down an alley. A single door with a sign above it that read ‘Darkside Recording’ in plain lettering. Theo walked through the door.

The lobby was much cleaner than the alley and street outside, if a little small. Behind the counter was a young woman leaning back with her feet up, her nose dug into her device. When Theo walked up, she glanced at him for a moment, then went back to her phone. Her profile was set to private. Theo could easily access her private profile with a BPD request, but felt it wasn’t necessary at this point.

“How can I help you, Officer?” She said.

“There’s a college girl that’s been in here a few times over the past several days. Can you tell me what she was doing here?” Theo asked.

“Probably recording stuff.” The girl said without looking up. Theo rolled his eyes.

“Can you give me any specifics?”

“Sorry. Customer information is confidential.”

“Okay. What if I told you this customer died shortly after being here?”

“That’s a shame, someone dying, but last time I checked, dying is kind of common.” The girl said, still not moving from her seat. “You know as well as I do, you’re going to need a warrant.” She was not being particularly respectful, but Theo did not care. He simply sighed because it felt like the thing to do in response. The girl turned toward him. “Don’t act like it takes more than 10 seconds.”

The girl was right. Theo flicked his fingers through the Boston PD UI in his vision, sending the warrant request over. Within seconds, the automated system analyzed the request, processed the relevant case notes, and delivered an approved warrant to the Darkside’s terminal. The girl spent a few more seconds skimming the warrant, then approved access to their customer database.

“You’ll find that our record keeping is immaculate.” The girl said, but Theo picked up another message in her tone, saying ‘If you do some corrupt cop shit, we’ll have it on camera.’ He appreciated her candor.

Every visitor that came in the door had an image and transaction history. Theo saw the image of himself first, being the most recent, then scrolled through several others before he recognized who he was looking for. She was here just yesterday, only hours before she died, using the name ‘Ruchait Bringuas.’ It was clearly an anagram for ‘Christina Auburg,’ and not one of the better ones that Theo had seen in his career. She had six transactions in the past several days, all paid for out of Christina’s account. He could see that she had made some recordings, but none appeared to be available.

“I thought you gave me full access...” Theo said. “Where are the videos she made?”

“We only keep the videos for as long as we can verify there hasn’t been any damage to our equipment, then it’s removed from our servers. The videos are hers to do with as she pleases.”

“Any idea what kind of videos she was making?” Theos question earned a raised eyebrow from the girl behind the counter.

“A college girl using a videogrammetry room? I’m pretty sure she wasn’t recording her dissertation.”

“Okay, so porn then?”

“Probably.” The girl said. Theo looked at some of the businesses recording options, then scoffed at the price for an hour.

“Why not just record it with your phone? Seems a lot cheaper to me.” Theo continued browsing through some of the options and details about the business. The girl gave him another incredulous look.

“Have you never seen a Videogrammetric recording before?” She asked. She sat up in her chair and looked more closely at Theo, watching his glowing, flickering eyes. “Pretty new to augs, aren’t you?” She received no answer and so continued, “Videogrammetry allows the recorder to easily create photorealistic models and animations for use in AR or VR. It can be done with a phone or optics, but not well. Our recording booths are specifically designed for it.”

“Mind if I take a look?” Theo asked. The girl hesitated. It was clear that she wasn’t a fan of cops, but then again, who was? But she didn’t see the harm in supervising a short inspection. She stood up from her seat and walked and opened the doors into the business proper, waiving Theo inside.

It was a short walk down some hallways. They passed several doors, each of them visibly locked, with a lit sign above reading ‘Recording in progress’. When they came upon a vacant room, the door opened, and the girl stood to the side in the doorway.

“This is a medium room. Aside from the dimensions, each setup is identical.” She said. Theo stepped past her into a large spherical room, its walls were lined with an array of dozens of cameras all focused on the center.

“So, what, you start recording and then just fuck on the floor? Seems kindof uncomfortable... and boring to watch.”

“We allow our customers to bring their own equipment to assist in recording. As for being boring to watch... well, I think you’d be surprised, especially if you have a Cerebral Interface.” The girl watched as Theo walked around the room, closely inspecting the cameras and floor, but making sure not to touch anything.

“Place looks pretty clean considering your clientele.”

“We have a pretty good custodial system. Still, I don’t recommend eating off anything in here.” The girl said. Theo finished his inspection and stepped back through the door. “Is there anything else I can help you with?” She started guiding him back to the lobby.

“Are there many sites that host these recordings?”

“It’s still kind of new, so there aren’t many.”

“Could you give me some recommendations?” Theo asked, and the girl gave him a strange look.

“You want me to recommend porn sites to you?” The girl said with a chuckle, but Theo did not respond in kind. Not unattracted to older men, she looked him up and down. “Maybe buy me a drink first?”

Theo didn’t have to access her profile to know that she wasn’t of drinking age, and there was the problem of having a wife who he loved. Furthermore, Theo feared that if he started drinking again, he would never stop.

“Thank you for your time.” Theo said as he walked toward the exit. The girl was subtly offended at the rejection of her thinly veiled proposition. She sat back down in her chair behind the counter and went back to her device.

Theo walked back down the alley to the road where his car pulled up to meet him. The door opened automatically. He stepped in and received a prompt asking for a destination.

“Idle.” he said, and the vehicle started moving. Theo opened his internet browser and searched for ‘Videogrammetry’. In the interest of taking baby steps with this technology, he opted to leave safe search turned on. At the top of the results was a website for The San Diego Zoological Society. Their Videogrammetry section had hundreds of recordings of animals that ranged from common to critically endangered, and even some extinct creatures revived through cloning. Theo selected one such creature, a Short-Crested Coquette, a hummingbird that had gone extinct in the mid 20’s.

He selected the option to watch the recording, and after a short download, the small bird flicked into his vision. For a few moments, Theo was speechless. The creature flitted around in front of him, so realistic that Theo instinctively reached out to touch it but pulled back when it nearly flew into his hand. He couldn’t feel the vibrating air under its wings, but what he was seeing and hearing was so lifelike, Theo’s brain filled in the gaps. Then the bird flew through the door next to him, shattering the illusion.

Theo continued watching it as it hovered next to the car outside, then ended the recording. Back on the website, he read more about the recordings. For a small fee, there was also an option to download an artificially intelligent interactive pet with animations pulled directly from the recording. Theo had to fight the urge to purchase it immediately, but instead went to look at a list of other available creatures. There was a Bengal Tiger, an Asian Elephant, an Amur Leopard, a Galapagos Penguin, and many more that were available in full size or miniaturized versions. There were even sea creatures, like turtles, whales and sharks that would swim through the air around the user.

But the thing that really caught his attention was the now extinct Black-Footed Ferret, his daughter’s favorite animal. It was something he couldn’t pass up, so he purchased, downloaded, and activated it immediately. The small furry animal popped into ‘reality’ with a visually appealing ethereal animation, then dropped onto the vehicle floor, landing gracefully. It looked up at him, and Theo couldn’t help but crack a smile.

Theo leaned down and offered his hand, rubbing his fingers together as if he were attracting a kitten, and the ferret responded in kind. It cautiously approached, then sniffed his fingers for a moment, then pressed itself against his hand, encouraging him to scratch behind his ears. The fur was pushed around and aside with his touch, it looked so soft. That and the creature’s acute physical reaction and pleasurable chittering obscured the fact that Theo was touching nothing but atmosphere.

When Theo pulled away from it, the ferret climbed up his leg and arm, then walked across his shoulder to curl up in the collar of his coat. Again, he couldn’t feel anything, but the way the creature visually interacted with the fabric of his clothing, he could have been convinced that it was real. After a few more scritches on the ferret’s incorporeal jaw, Theo’s attention turned back to his job, which now consisted of browsing pornography.

“Driver,” Theo said. A short tone let him know the vehicle was listening. “Opaque windows, please.” Nobody would have been able to see what he was seeing, nor did he have any inclination to pull his dick out, but the windows darkened anyway.

He started first with the websites he was occasionally familiar with. He had seen the videogrammetry tabs before, but never knew what it was, and never cared as all its content was behind a paywall. He considered whether he could use a warrant for free access to porn, but decided that he wasn’t too keen on having his badge number associated with these websites. He also had no proof that anything illegal had transpired. So Theo sent his payment information and began browsing through the most recent uploads.

In the past week, there had been hundreds of uploads. Through most of the thumbnails, he was able to determine that the subject was not Christina and moved on, but he eventually came upon thumbnails in which he wasn’t sure. He selected to watch the first such video and was immediately presented with a warning that read ‘Current environment too small for recommended viewing, change to digital environment?’ Theo selected ‘Yes’ and was shown a list of available locations. He had seen a few of the environments before, having messed around with them when he initially set up his Ocular implants. He chose the Chateau environment, and in a moment, he was no longer sitting in his car, but in a lounge chair next to a large pool overlooking a bright, colorful valley.

Just as Theo felt himself starting to relax, a couple of young women appeared in front of him. Neither was the girl he was searching for, but just like the ferret, their sense of presence and lifelike appearance was fascinating to Theo. He continued to watch. The women looked at each other, then gently embraced one another and began slowly dancing together. The sight was actually quite nice and calming to watch, Theo thought, until they began to undress each other, and Theo remembered that he was, in fact, watching a pornographic recording.

He had no aversion to nudity or porn, he wasn’t a prude, and consumed it himself every once in a while. But this seemed different. It was much more real, as if he were there with the women and facilitating the event before him, and that made him wonder whether Kara would approve.

The girls disappeared as Theo closed the recording. Before switching away from the current selection, Theo noticed a tag in the video description reading ‘Smell, Taste, Feel... with a Cerebral Interface.’ He didn’t know much about Cerebral Interfaces and their capabilities. He had turned the option down without a moment of consideration when he selected his implants. He thought it was insane that someone would want to go through such an invasive procedure just to browse the internet faster, but now, his interest in the matter was starting to rise. He had never considered that it might be possible to program and simulate the senses of touch, taste, and smell. Theo told himself that he would look more into it later. Right now, he had more work to do, though he didn’t mind doing it while continuing to overlook the French countryside.

Before long, the upload date on the videos Theo was inspecting had gone past the one-week marker. Without a positive identification, Theo moved to another website, purchased another subscription, then started the process over again. It was another three subscriptions and two free trials before he found what he was looking for. After inspecting hundreds of ambiguous thumbnails and vague descriptions, Theo was caught off guard when he saw Christina appear in front of him.

She was much more beautiful without a coating of blood and sizeable portion of her head missing, but Theo also noticed a few things that were off about her. Firstly, she didn’t appear to be wearing any makeup, which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, just strange, as presentation seemed to be a key part of the format. Christina’s expression was cold and emotionless, in contrast to the bright, sunny face in every image Theo had seen of Christina in his research.

When she started dancing, some lumbering movements triggered a subtle, uneasy feeling in Theo. He continued watching as she began to undress but soon ran into issues undoing the clasp on the back of her bra. Instead of being particularly arousing, Theo felt a shared awkwardness, and remembered back to when he and his wife had similar issues in the past. He instinctively moved to stand up and help her, but was quickly met by the ceiling inside his car, currently completely invisible to him. He fell back into his seat, shaking his head at his mistake.

She got frustrated with the bra and opted to just pull it over her head, where the fabric was momentarily caught in her hair. Once she was completely naked, she clumsily danced some more, then took a position on the floor and started to masturbate, first with her fingers, then with an object that wasn’t visible to Theo, making for a strange, if visually interesting presentation.

Theo remained professional through the video, and the six others that were posted under the same account, the name just an unpronounceable string of letters and numbers. All of the videos were generally the same thing in different positions, though the awkwardness was least intense with the most recent video, uploaded the day that Christina died. Christina never spoke during any of the videos, only making the occasional reflexive moan.

There were no appearances by other men, women, or other visible objects. There was no violence, drug use, or signs of abuse. There wasn’t even a focus on taboos or strange fetishes. He wouldn’t call himself an aficionado, nor would he ever want to, but beyond the novelty of the immensely immersive realism made possible through Videogrammetry, Theo felt the videos were quite vanilla, amateurish, and frankly boring, compared to some of the things he had seen in his years of public service. He had seen nothing to indicate a crime was committed, but also saw nothing to suggest a reason for her suicide. The videos were quite popular, however, not to mention monetized.

A warrant for the financial transaction history was sent off to the website, and within seconds, a complete list of transactions was received. Theo was surprised to see over $600 in views and private downloads had been generated from the videos in only one week. He followed the cash to the bank it was sent to, and sent another warrant for the account owners information.

Jackson Edwards was the name that came up, a name that was in no way associated with Christina from any of his research. Theo cracked a smile, satisfied with having a new avenue of investigation in the case, but the smile quickly faded when he pulled up Jackson’s profile and saw that he had been pronounced dead less than 24 hours before. It was another suspected suicide, but this time, he had jumped from an overpass into high-speed automated traffic.

“Shit.” Theo said to himself. It was followed by another expletive when most of his personal information was not only private, but encrypted. He wasn’t going to get much over the internet, luckily an autopsy was already scheduled for tomorrow morning. He felt there wasn’t much more he could do today. Closing down the Chateau environment and returning to reality was jarring to Theo, as it had been several hours since he had started working and now the sun was setting and he was in a completely different part of the city than he had been before. Theo shook it off and checked the time.

It was still too early to go home. Not that he couldn’t, he just didn’t feel like falling asleep on the couch watching tv again was very appealing. But, it was still early enough for visiting hours.

“Driver.” Theo said, then continued after a short tone. “MCI-Concord, please.” The vehicle acknowledged with a chime and a map with a plotted destination appeared on the dashboard. Upon arrival, Theo went through the standard entry procedure, checking in and depositing his weapon. He was asked who he was visiting. “Ellis Royalkin” Theo said, then was escorted into the visiting room. He took a seat at a table and leaned back against the wall as he waited.

Soon, a young man in olive garb was let into the visiting room and had his handcuffs removed. Theo stood up to greet him. They gave each other warm smiles as they shook hands and sat at the table.

“Theo,” Ellis said. “It’s nice to see you.”

“Likewise, Ellis. I just got off work and thought it’s been a while since I last visited.” Theo said. It was met with a chuckle from Ellis.

“You just saw me a few days ago. You know... nobody will think it’s weird if you don’t visit your daughter’s killer on a weekly basis.” Ellis said with a friendly tone, but Theo didn’t find it as funny.

“You know I don’t see it like that.” Theo said, shaking his head.

“I don’t know how else it can be seen...” Ellis trailed off, ending in a barely audible mutter, but Theo heard it, and he was starting to get angry.

“The only thing you’re guilty of is being a stupid fuckin teenager!” Theo snapped with a pointed finger in Ellis’s face. There was a moment of silence while they looked at each other.

Theo wasn’t one to shy away from beating the shit out of scumbags who deserved it, and even now, Theo imagined caving the kids face in with his fists until he stopped moving. However, every time he would let the scenario play out in his head, he would always end up feeling worse. After the moment passed, Theo took a deep breath and leaned back.

“So, why are you here then?” Ellis asked.

“I...” Theo started, then began rubbing his eyes in confused frustration. “I don’t know, man. Maybe because therapy is more expensive.”

“Doesn’t BPD provide that for free?” Ellis asked, garnering rolled eyes from Theo. “If not, maybe I can let you borrow mine.” Ellis chuckled again. Theo took his weighted stylus from his pocket and started flipping it between his fingers. He sat hunched over, staring at the surface of the empty table. “Something on your mind?” Ellis asked. Theo remained silent for another moment.

“Have you ever seen Videogrammetry before?”

“Sure,” Ellis said, then pointed to his eyes. Circling the edge of each iris were the words ‘Property of Massachusetts Correctional Institution’. “though I can only really see what they allow me to see. It’s been a while since I’ve seen some good porn.”

“Can you see this little guy?” Theo said, bringing his hand up to scratch the chin of the digital ferret still on his shoulder.

“Fraid not. I do have a couple of kitties in my cell though.” Ellis watched as the detective continued to finger the air with a subtle innocent smile behind his grim demeanor.

“I had no idea this shit existed before today.”

“Pretty neat, right?”

“I suppose so...” Theo’s faint smile fell. “It’s just... if you can make digital stuff look so real... why would you ever want to leave?” The two sat in silence while Ellis considered his response.

“I uh... don’t really have an answer for you, unfortunately.” Ellis said. It was what Theo expected, but not what he had hoped. He was crestfallen, and Ellis wasn’t sure why. “If I had the option of spending all my time on the beach watching the ocean instead of staring at concrete walls, I’d take it in a second and never think twice about it... but on the flipside...” Ellis paused, then glanced over at the guards posted at the entrance to the room. He looked back at Theo, then shook his head. “Nevermind.”

“What?” Theo followed Ellis’s eyes to the guards and back. “They do something to you, or what?”

“No! No, it’s nothing like that!” Ellis shot back with a hushed voice. “I’ve just, uh... spoken with a few guys who have been in solitary for a few weeks.”

“Wasn’t solitary confinement banned years ago?”

“Well, yeah, they got rid of the confined part. You still get yard time, work time, canteen time, but they remove the images and sounds of everyone around you.”

“I dunno... doesn’t sound so bad to me.”

“Maybe when you’re trying to take a nap on the T, but not 24 hours a day for two weeks straight!” Ellis was nervous. He continued to keep his voice down. “A couple days in and they look like zombies. One guy said he started seeing shit after a while, even thought I was a hallucination.” Ellis said. Theo leaned back and scratched the scruff under his chin.

“That seems pretty ethically dubious.”

“Hey, I’m not the one who said it.” Ellis raised his hands, trying to distance himself from the idea. “It’s not like a prisoner’s word would carry any weight anyway.”

“Would you like me to say something?”

“Like what? ‘Please stop psychologically torturing prisoners’?” Ellis was laying on the sarcasm.

“Yeah, something like that.”

“Tons of people have been trying that for a century.”

“And it’s been working. We just talked about how they got rid of solitary.”

“Yeah, but we also talked about how it’s changed to another method that isn’t much better.” Ellis and Theo were getting annoyed as they talked in circles. “Look, I appreciate that you’re just looking for a way to help, but without a team of lawyers and lobbyists behind you, I don’t think you’re going to do much to change anything. Even if you spoke with the warden personally, getting special favors because I’m friends with a cop wouldn’t really go over very well in here.”

“Those are fair points.” Theo said. “I just don’t like being helpless.”

“Same...”

After a short period of self-reflection, the two spent the rest of their visiting time conversing about classic television, one of the few interests the two had in common. When they were informed of their expired time, they shook hands and exchanged goodbyes before being separated. On his way home, Theo browsed articles and videos regarding and correctional psychology and wellbeing.

When he stepped through his front door, he removed his coat and went to the fridge. He was pleasantly surprised to see that 2 bottles of food had been used. He grabbed one, then stood in the doorway to his bedroom and watched his wife as he downed the drink. She was curled up on one side of the bed facing the wall, motionless except for the gentle movement of her breath. Her pulse was low. Either she was sleeping, or she was deep into her game. Theo considered whether they were the same thing.

He finished the bottle, tossed it into the bin in the kitchen, then disrobed down to his boxers and tenderly slid into bed against his wife’s skin. He wrapped his arms around her and nuzzled his nose into the hair at the back of her neck. Her skin was cold, so Theo tried to make himself into a warm blanket for her. There were no words, but Theo felt her softly squeeze his hand and he knew she was there with him. It was enough to put him in a comfortable sleep.


End file.
